It's Morphin' Time: Cultural Changes Over 20 Years of Power Rangers

Introduction

In December of 1994, for the second holiday season in a row, the toy industry was unquestionably dominated by one force. Michael Goldstein, then CEO of Toys "R" Us, called it "the biggest phenomenon we have ever seen in the toy business". A mother-of-two from Tuckahoe admitted to the New York Times, "I've never seen such a terrible show in my life, but my boys love it. They are possessed, and so am I." Children had little critical analysis to offer, but the insurmountable demand for this brand in stores across North America spoke for itself: that year, ninjutsu-trained anthropomorphic reptiles had nothing on the Power Rangers.

Since the early '80s, producer Haim Saban and his business partner, music composer Shuki Levy, had enjoyed the wildly lucrative aspect of children's programming that was cartoon music. For every Inspector Gadget, Rainbow Brite, or He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, there was a soundtrack; for every soundtrack, there were publishing royalties stemming from the licensing and re-licensing of those cartoons around the world. Hiring composers to work on salary and offering production companies free music for their shows, the enterprising Saban and Levy listed themselves as co-writers of the music, with Saban keeping all of the publishing rights. The money rolled in (as it still does today, with Saban set to continue receiving millions of dollars in royalties for the rest of his life), but then Saban had another idea: why not produce the shows, too?